as in joining
to become a friend to (someone)
He befriended the new student.
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Recent Examples of befriending
Conrad Weiser was a Pennsylvania German who had roamed the frontier for decades, learning the Indian languages and befriending Indian leaders, including some who encountered Washington in Ohio.
—
Literary Hub, 20 May 2026
Her language skills also aid her in befriending Hanna (Maia Rae Domagala), a 15-year-old German skiing prodigy who has come to Chile to train with her coach, Alexander (Jakub Gierszal).
—Jessica Kiang, Variety, 14 May 2026
Things take a turn when Snow, 40, who plays Sophie, moves to Texas and tries befriending the group of East Texas socialites — only for a teen girl named Abby to turn up dead.
—Lexi Lane, PEOPLE, 10 May 2026
Beyond the Artforum ads, Bischofberger also made a significant contribution to the trajectory of contemporary art, personally befriending artists such as Francesco Clemente, Julian Schnabel, and Andy Warhol and even transforming their practices along the way.
—Alex Greenberger, ARTnews.com, 9 May 2026
This approach involves befriending the zeros inside large AI models.
—Olivia Hsu, IEEE Spectrum, 28 Apr. 2026
The Ronettes’ sexy look and powerful voices — plus songwriting and producing help from Phil Spector — turned them into one of the premier acts of the girl-group era, touring England with The Rolling Stones and befriending the Beatles.
—ABC News, 27 Apr. 2026
Characteristically, McMurtry wasn’t keen on being the subject of a full biography; Streitfeld, after befriending him, won his cooperation piecemeal.
—The Week Us, TheWeek, 21 Apr. 2026
The clip captures a solid day of shenanigans, which include dirt-biking, graffitiing, flying a kite, brandishing various plushies and smoke flares, and befriending a herd of sheep.
—Hattie Lindert, Pitchfork, 7 Apr. 2026
Literary Hub, 20 May 2026
Her language skills also aid her in befriending Hanna (Maia Rae Domagala), a 15-year-old German skiing prodigy who has come to Chile to train with her coach, Alexander (Jakub Gierszal).
—Jessica Kiang, Variety, 14 May 2026
Things take a turn when Snow, 40, who plays Sophie, moves to Texas and tries befriending the group of East Texas socialites — only for a teen girl named Abby to turn up dead.
—Lexi Lane, PEOPLE, 10 May 2026
Beyond the Artforum ads, Bischofberger also made a significant contribution to the trajectory of contemporary art, personally befriending artists such as Francesco Clemente, Julian Schnabel, and Andy Warhol and even transforming their practices along the way.
—Alex Greenberger, ARTnews.com, 9 May 2026
This approach involves befriending the zeros inside large AI models.
—Olivia Hsu, IEEE Spectrum, 28 Apr. 2026
The Ronettes’ sexy look and powerful voices — plus songwriting and producing help from Phil Spector — turned them into one of the premier acts of the girl-group era, touring England with The Rolling Stones and befriending the Beatles.
—ABC News, 27 Apr. 2026
Characteristically, McMurtry wasn’t keen on being the subject of a full biography; Streitfeld, after befriending him, won his cooperation piecemeal.
—The Week Us, TheWeek, 21 Apr. 2026
The clip captures a solid day of shenanigans, which include dirt-biking, graffitiing, flying a kite, brandishing various plushies and smoke flares, and befriending a herd of sheep.
—Hattie Lindert, Pitchfork, 7 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for befriending
Verb
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However, Royce Young, a former ESPN reporter who is now a member of the Thunder’s front office, said Charania — who was a senior NBA writer for The Athletic before joining ESPN in 2024 — was simply doing his job.—
Mike Prada,
New York Times,
18 May 2026
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But soon the 50-year-old character actor will be joining the DCU and plotting to conquer and collect the world as Brainiac, the villain of James Gunn’s Superman sequel Man of Tomorrow.—
Scott Roxborough,
HollywoodReporter,
17 May 2026
Verb
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Hamaguchi, who co-wrote the screenplay with Léa Le Dimna, spent two years developing the project in France, traveling between Tokyo and Paris and conducting actor workshops to familiarize himself with how French performers approach text.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
15 May 2026
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Brentford end their season with a home game against Crystal Palace on Sunday before travelling to Anfield to face Liverpool on the final day on May 24.—
Nnamdi Onyeagwara,
New York Times,
15 May 2026
Verb
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The Thessaloniki International Film Festival’s industry segment, the Agora, is the primary platform for connecting Greek and international professionals, with a focus on Southeastern Europe and the Mediterranean that extends at times to Scandinavia and the Baltics.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
20 May 2026
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One example is a utility modernizing storm response by connecting outage systems, field dispatch, weather feeds and customer communications.—
Deepak Garg,
Forbes.com,
20 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Befriending.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/befriending. Accessed 21 May. 2026.
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